MediaLive

Bye Bye 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:07:00 +0530

Brand Needs to Be on Facebook Now

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:57:00 +0530

With 450 million users globally (and millions more being added each week) Facebook (Facebook) is dominating the web in unparalleled ways. Yet, even as the social network has steadily grown over its short but remarkable history, many brands have remained on the sidelines of the social media revolution.

Facebook was the most visited site on the web for the week ending on March 13, 2010, surpassing even Google in week-long stats for the first time in history, according to Hitwise. The shift in user habits and audience targeting is palpable and it provides marketers, brand managers, issue advocates, and political campaigns today with an age old choice: Adapt and change or face irrelevance and extinction.
A Social Media Parable

In many ways, the fundamental decision facing those looking to compete in the next decade of social media dominance is reminiscent of Dr. Spencer Johnson’s bestselling business tale Who Moved My Cheese? It’s the story of two mice named Sniff and Scurry and two “littlepeople” named Hem and Haw who find themselves facing this same predicament.

As the fable unfolds, the book’s four main characters arrive in their maze one day to find that their once abundant cheese supply has disappeared. Sniff and Scurry knew this day was coming. They recognized that their cheese supply was dwindling and set out to find a new source.

Hem and Haw, on the other hand, hadn’t noticed that their cheese was running out. Rather than adapt, they retreated into the all-too-human reactions of fear, denial, and disbelief as they hopelessly waited for the change to prove passing.

For those who have not read this late-90s change agent bible, I won’t spoil the ending. The moral of the story however is clear: Change happens. To survive it, you must anticipate it; and to be successful, you must embrace it.
Realizing the Critical Value of Facebook

In the modern day maze that is the digital and social media realm, these lessons were again on display as the online community debated the value of the new Facebook user statistics this past week.

Viewed simply, the cheese moved again this month –- and just as intelligent companies adapted their marketing and communications models for the advent of Google (Google) over the last decade, Facebook’s dominance has forced another “change or become extinct” moment. To thrive in a rapidly changing marketplace, corporate communicators must understand that the shift now underway is just as powerful as the one that transformed Google into the modern Yellow Pages and turned a Silicon Valley start-up into a $200 billion everyday necessity.

Unfortunately, most of today’s C-Suite decision makers lack the foresight of Dr. Johnson’s furry friends Sniff and Scurry. Far too many executives still see Facebook as a vast, uncontrollable outpost for college slackers –- one better equipped for picture sharing and random life updates than corporate reputation management, crisis response, and brand bulletproofing.

But the numbers don’t lie. Almost half-a-billion users each spend an average of nearly 6 hours per month on the site –- inhabiting networks that are largely free of corporate messaging, spam, and expensive advertising. This ought to make at least a few corporate titans rethink that next $1 million Super Bowl ad buy (even if Google did buy its first in 2010).
3 Ways Your Brand can Get Started on Facebook

Facebook users are openly sharing their life’s passions, personal interests, and their affinity –- or lack thereof –- for corporate brands, political candidates, and the key public policy stances. In effect, they are openly sharing every bit of marketing data a 21st century company covets.

For those still wary of change but now ready to dip their toe into the waters and begin to understand and benefit from the power of social, there are three free and relatively painless steps to begin the journey through the social media maze:

* First, evaluate your current advertising efforts and identify how they can best be tailored to Facebook. Consider allocating 10% of your current Google AdWords or online advertising budget to a 90-day trial run on Facebook. Be sure to develop clear benchmarks for success, and remember, unlike Google AdWords, Facebook ads rely on both keywords and a variety of demographic information –- information you no doubt have already identified as key indicators of your target audience(s). You can now put this information to use to further micro-target your advertising buy, narrow the net you are throwing in the online marketplace, and increase the return on your investment.
* Second, conduct a survey of your employees to see who is already on Facebook and thus, who may be your company’s most social media-savvy employees. You may find that your workplace is brimming with talent just waiting to be unleashed. For now, these future brand ambassadors may be ideal candidates to develop your Facebook presence and initial advertising program.
* Finally — and this may seem obvious — become a face on Facebook yourself. Become familiar with the site, its features and the value hundreds of millions of people find in the world’s most populous online community. It may ultimately not be for you personally, but as with almost every new platform, the best way to understand its value is to give it a try yourself.

For those still looking for meaning in the numbers released earlier this month, the message is clear: Not only has the cheese moved again, the entire creamery has up and relocated. It won’t be coming back. And no manner of hemming and hawing is going to change that fact.

Office Talk : Microsoft Testing Enterprise Microblogging Product

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:55:00 +0530

Microsoft is opening up a new office software called OfficeTalk in a “limited private pilot” scheme. The service is basically akin to Yammer — and on a smaller scale — a Twitter rival.

The OfficeTalk project is described as “a concept test to explore the value of microblogging in the enterprise.” Put simply, the software lets company members take part in discussions relevant to the workplace.

Unlike other solutions, OfficeTalk is hosted within the customer’s organization, which could be a boon for those ultra concerned about privacy.

Due to its early-stage concept, Microsoft admits the software looks rather similar to other “well-known” services (complete with hashtags and @names) but is looking for user feedback to improve the service.

OfficeTalk is currently used internally at Microsoft with more than 10,000 visitors and hundreds of messages posted daily. The software giant is looking for a very small number of companies who’d like to pilot the software.

Would you consider giving OfficeTalk a go? Do you currently use Yammer (Yammer) or any other microsharing services? Let us know how your company stays in touch during the day in the comments below.

GoDaddy to Stop Offering Chinese Domain Names

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:49:00 +0530

As of today, popular domain registrar GoDaddy plans to stop registering .cn (China) domain names due to the country’s new restrictions that require more personally identifiable information from registrants.

GoDaddy is explaining its decision — announced today — before the Congressional Executive Commission on China, which is holding a hearing related to GoogleGoogleGoogle and Internet control.

During the hearing, GoDaddy’s Christine Jones explains that the decision has to do with new requirements that require .cn domain registrants to provide a headshot along with additional Chinese business identification information.

When asked directly, Jones admits that GoDaddy was involved as a victim in the December cyber attack, which she says was “designed to disable websites that somebody doesn’t like.”

She claims, however, that Google’s public acts around uncensored search did not play into GoDaddy’s decision, instead she says that GoDaddy no longer wanted to “act as agent of the Chinese government.”

On GoDaddy’s decision, The Washington Post also writes:

“The rules, the company believes, are an effort by China to increase monitoring and surveillance of Web site content and could put individuals who register their sites with the firm at risk. The company also believes the rules will have a ‘chilling effect’ on new domain name registrations.”

Congressional chair Byron Dorgan doesn’t mince words, saying that he assumes that China’s interest in the additional registrant details is to “intimidate and track down certain dissidents in China.”

Of course this hearing comes on the heels of the continued contentious relationship between Google and China. Participants include representatives from Google, GoDaddy and Human Rights in China.

Media Live 24*7 : Happy Birthday Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:08:00 +0530

Sunday, March 21st (a few hours from now on the West Coast) marks Twitter’s 4th birthday — exactly four years since Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sent his first Tweet and, along with Evan Williams and Biz Stone, started a phenomenon.

Last month, Twitter (Twitter) hit 50 million Tweets per day, and last summer it was announced that “Twitter” would enter the Collins English Dictionary.

What birthday message do you have for Twitter? Let us know in the comments.

Non-Profits Can Use Google Buzz

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:02:00 +0530

Despite some initial flaws, Google BuzzGoogle BuzzGoogle Buzz continues to show promise as a social marketing platform. It has a significant (though somewhat latent) user base, with an increasing number of loyalists who swear by it.

When a green field lies before you, so does opportunity. Some non-profits stand to gain from being part of the early Buzz adopter community. Whether a cause needs to further the dialogue with a tech-savvy crowd, or is attracted to the functionality of GmailGmailGmail integration, Buzz does bring some new capabilities to bear.

Here are four great uses for Buzz in cause-based activity.

1. Manage Public Conversations Better

A useful feature of Google Buzz is its public threaded conversation stream. This format has significant advantages over TwitterTwitterTwitter’s disjointed @reply conversations and hashtag-based threads, as well as FacebookFacebookFacebook’s often high privacy walls.

“We’ve been looking at using Buzz to have public conversations about Mothers Fighting for Others‘ work with an orphanage in Kenya,” said Jeff Turner, President of Zeek Interactive. “We want to be able to facilitate a consistent thread of conversation, but we want it to be more public and open than Facebook or [Google] Wave would allow. With Buzz, we feel like we can maintain a clear stream of thought around a topic, and at the same time, do it in a public forum where someone we might not be able to envision being interested could join in.”

2. E-mail Integration Means Better Workflow

Gmail Buzz ImageNon-profits could use Buzz to manage workflow across a group. This can be useful for an organization with project teams spread across multiple offices or in the field. With e-mail integration, it saves the organization from having to set up a separate account with another private conversation tool like BasecampBasecampBasecamp.

“An example would be to set up Buzz as a private group for a project team, large or small,” said Shireen Mitchell, a Washington D.C.-based digital activist. “Twitter updates, blog posts, and other related content that has an RSS feed can be connected to individual [Buzz] accounts tracking topics related to the project. The team can make comments and select “like” to provide a consensus of interest on each update. This would keep the team updated on news, topics and content for any existing issue-driven social media campaign of the organization. [It's] sort of a mini crowdsourcing of the team.”

3. Finally Connect to “Unsocial” Users

Another interesting aspect of Buzz’s workflow and e-mail integration is the use of a system that blends 2.0 functionality with a 1.0 system. Non-profit managers can use this to intelligently blend workforce conversations between younger and older, or tech-savvy and entrenched members of their teams. Crossing the streams may enable better communications.

“Google Buzz allows users to publish private streams to specific contact groups,” said John Haydon, a non-profit social media strategist. “This is a perfect way to include staff members who don’t use social media in important real-time conversations, especially during news-worthy events like the earthquake in Haiti.”

4. Geo-Location Adds a New Element

When Google launches a social network, it brings more to bear than your average start-up. Consider the ability to integrate geo-location with Google MapsGoogle MapsGoogle Maps into your social network activity. People can see social activity on the fly.

“Fast forward to a cause marketing campaign like Starbucks’ partnership with Product RED,” said Joe Waters, author of the Selfish Giving blog. “Buzzing about the latest campaign to a really large audience with geo-location features [enabled] lets people see in real-time all the people [talking] about the campaign in their area — especially in densely packed areas in New York where [Starbucks] are practically right across the street from each other.

“In short, Buzz can potentially broadcast a cause marketing campaign to a much larger audience than say Twitter. And the geo-location feature, if it takes off, can give a program a real-time, tangible quality that can’t be replicated on another [social media] platform.”

How to create a US iTunes App Store account

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:40:00 +0530

US App Store

Anyone that writes about iPhone applications that isn't based in the United States has it rough; iTunes promo codes only work for US App Store accounts. That can make it tough to review iPhone and iPod touch software if you're not based in the US.

Creating an account for the US App Store when you're not based in the US is against Apple's terms and conditions, so I'm not recommending that you do it. But if, for journalistic reasons, you want or need to know how to do it, here's the scoop.

First of all, there are a few ways it can be done. If you're looking to download both free and paid apps, you'll need to create a new iTunes account and associate it with a US-based credit card. Many users report success doing this using PayPal even when they are based outside the US and their PayPal account is linked to a non-US bank, as long as their PayPal credit/debit card is set to US currency. Without testing this approach, it's hard to comment, but if you've tried please let us know how it went in the comments. Another option is to purchase a pre-paid Mastercard gift card as outlined by Smart Canucks.

If you're just looking to download free apps and have the ability to redeem promo codes, then matters get significantly more simple. In fact, Apple has instructions for you, but before you follow them you need to make sure you are not logged into your existing iTunes account, and you are on the US App Store. The following instructions are how to do it in iTunes on a Mac; Windows should be similar:

1. In the menu in iTunes, click Store > Sign Out
2. Click on the App Store link in the left sidebar of iTunes to open an App Store page
3. Scroll to the bottom, and click on the icon of your country's flag at the bottom right
4. On the following page, scroll to the bottom and choose United States
5. Follow Apple's instructions to create an iTunes App Store account without a credit card

Be aware that you will not be able to download updates to any apps you install while logged in to your US account unless you are logged in with that account. It's a bit of a hassle to have to switch back and forth between your native country login and your US one.

Useful Firefox Addons

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:37:00 +0530

Update: Don't forget - now you can subscribe to our Firefox Addons Collection thanks to Mozilla!

My affinity for Firefox comes as much from the fantastic community of addon developers as it does from the program itself. Now, I'm sure you will have heard of some of these before: good Firefox addons tend to spread like wildfire. I hope I've managed to include some that you might have missed.

I've ranked just over a dozen addons that I find to be particularly useful - even to more casual Firefox users.

1. Cybersearch - Customizable Google searches in my Awesome Bar? Yes, please! It also supports keywords so you can enter things like "ds firefox addons" and limit your search to a specific web site (like Downloadsquad, for example). Enter a comma separated list of URLs to search a group of sites.

2. LastPass - I used to use KeePass, but I just like LastPass better. It did a great job of importing (and then removing) my Firefox stored passwords, and its secure password creation tool makes using different passwords on new sites a snap. The web interface is a great way to manage my logins and groups.

3. FEBE - As with anything else on your computer, it's never a bad idea to back up your Firefox install. FEBE will back up everything - extensions, themes, bookmarks - or just what you choose, and you can set up an automated schedule. It's also got integrated Box.net support, which is actually a fairly nice way to roll-you-rown manual Firefox syncing.

4. AdBlock Plus. I don't really use AdBlock because I hate advertisements, but because I don't like waiting for web pages to load. Flash ads and multiple banners really gum up the works, so I depend on AdBlock to keep things running smoothly. It's also a decent way to cut back on your bandwidth usage.

5. DownThemAll - When a friend first showed me DTA a few years ago, I couldn't believe I was still just using FF2's built-in manager. DTA rocks, and would definitely make my Top 5. It's simply one of the best download managers out there.

6. OpenItOnline - I don't do enough work with Office-type documents anymore to warrant installing a suite on my laptop. OpenItOnline lets me send DOC, XLS, and all the other supported file types to ZohoViewer for perusal instead of downloading them. It supports all Zoho and Google Docs apps to open files.

7. Deng Google Bookmarks - I'm not sold on Weave yet, so for now I let Google store my bookmarks. I switched to the Deng addon after using GMarks for the longest time - because I got tired of the giant "bookmark" button on my toolbar. Deng displays only a small star icon, and its management interface is superior.

8. Screengrab! - To quickly capture an entire web page, Screengrab is a great tool. It can save or copy an entire page, the visible portion, or a rectangular selection. If I don't actually need to print a page, Screengrab is an easy, environmentally friendly way for me to keep a copy of it.

9. HP Smart Web Printing - When I do need to print, HP's addon gives me the option to combine multiple web pages on one sheet of paper, eliminate elements I don't need to print, and it even allows saving to PDF. Always nice to see the big boys release something great for free.

10. Web Of Trust - WOT is a great way to keep yourself out of malware trouble. I think I'm a pretty responsible surfer, but I don't know the reputation of every site on the Internet. WOT gives you a heads up about the trustworthiness of a link (based on community input) before you visit it.

11. Shareaholic - Anyone that enjoys sharing links would do well to install this one: it supports a ton of services, including Digg, Delicious, Twitter, Pownce, Reddit, Facebook, MySpace, and Google. It's also a quick way to see how many Diggs or Delicious bookmarks a page has received. Bzzster support gives quick access to sharing items via email.

12. Pingfire - Another must for the social surfer. Ping.fm's multiple-site update service is rad, and Pingfire kicks it up a notch. No need to even visit Ping, just add the Pingfire icon to your toolbar and update your microblog and status sites with ultimate ease.

13. Tab Kit - It's got a whole slew of options for tab management: grouping, coloring, sorting, protection, mouse rocker and scroll wheel support, and many, many others. Visit the devloper's page for a full list of features.

14. Yet Another Smooth Scrolling - Firefox's default scrolling isn't quite as refined as I like it, so I use YASS to tweak things until they're just right. It supports up to three presets, which is nice for laptops. Keep one set for your touchpad and one for your mouse.

Since Downloadsquad readers are largely Firefox users, did I miss your favorite? Share it in the comments so our other readers don't miss out!

24 Portable Apps For Your USB Flash Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:34:00 +0530

My flash drive works pretty hard, so I've spent a lot of time gathering a reliable, powerful set of portable tools that allow me to work hard and play hard, even if I can't do it on my own PC. Here are two dozen apps that I always have at the ready.

Encryption

Truecrypt - Why is TrueCrypt first on the list? Simple. A multi-gig, easy-to-lose, unencrypted drive with your data on it is a terrible security risk. Truecrypt helps me keep all my private stuff locked down. Read the "traveller mode" documentation for help setting it up.

Web and Internet

Operator - I'm not an Opera fanboy by any stretch, but if I've got to surf on a public computer, I'm using Operator. It's got Tor anonymous browsing built in to keep you safe. You can read more about it in my previous post. If I'm on a trusted computer, I'll go for Portable Firefox.

Pidgin - I don't usually need to IM from a client's site, but just in case I need to stay in touch I bring Pidgin with me. For portable multi-network chat, it's the best option out there. Add the encryption plugin to keep it secure.

Filezilla - Half the time I need Notepad++, it's because I'm editing files on my FTP server from the road. Filezilla portable keeps all my sites accesible from wherever I am.

Peer-to-Peer

μTorrent - Yet another recurring frustration is not being able to find a torrent client on a PC when I need it. I run μTorrent on all my PCs anyways, so it's got a home on my flash drive as well.

Frostwire - What's worse than getting a song stuck in your head and not being able to hear it? Take Frostwire with you and make sure that doesn't happen.

Maintenance and Support

CCleaner - A lot of the computers I work on look like they've never had a single file deleted from them. CCleaner makes short work of dumping gigs of trash files from them, and it tidies up the registry, too.

Revo Uninstaller - Phase two in the purging of filth from client machines is ridding them of unwanted apps. Revo is way better than add/remove programs, and the "hunter mode" uproots stubborn apps.

Nirsoft Apps - I have to group these, because they'd eat up half my list otherwise. Dialupass, Mailpassview, Currports, Netresview, and several other of their apps are must-haves for any technician.

Treesize Free - To find where all of someone's drive space is going in a hurry, fire up Treesize. It makes drive cleanup a snap.

Teamviewer - Zero config remote control that's portable? Yes, I'll have that. Teamviewer kicks so much ass that it was an easy sell to my boss, who makes Mr. Crabs look like a big spender.

Multimedia

CDBurner XP - Customer's don't always have good - or any - burning software installed. CD Burner XP solves that problem. I switched from InfraRecorder, but it's a good option as well.

Screamer - I tried screamer out a while ago for a post on DLS, and it's earned a spot on my drive. For quick access to tons of internet radio streams, you can't beat it.

Faststone Capture - Whether I need a screencap for a blog post or to prove something to someone, Faststone is my app of choice. The included editing features are great, and mean that I don't need a photo editor for quick jobs. The link is to the last free version (at Portable Freeware Collection), as Faststone is now trialware.

VDownloader - You never know when you're going to stumble across a YouTube video that you just have to save. VDownloader will save in a number of video formats, or the audio only as MP3.

Irfanview - For image viewing and basic edits (crop, rotate, resize, etc.) , it's Irfanview all the way. The homepage is here, but the portable version is over at Smithtech.

VLC - Videolan wins as my portable media player because it supports so many formats and doesn't require outside codecs. Can 100 million downloaders really be wrong? Ok, sure they can. But I still love VLC.

Document Handlers

Notepad++ - It never hurts to have a good text editor at your disposal, and portable Notepad++ is an excellent option. Tons of great features, like macro recording, syntax highlighting, tabbed interface, and much, much more.

Abiword - Some may opt for OpenOffice, but I choose Abiword because I've got Zoho and Google Docs accounts for out-of-office chores that require heavy lifting. Abiword is small, fast, compatible, and has all the features I need for quick document production. The portable version is here.

Foxit PDF Reader - I hate trying to open a manual on a customer's PC only to learn they don't have an Acrobat viewer installed. Foxit is my reader of choice, so I take it with me.

File Management

Total Commander - Not only is Total Commander a rockin' dual-pane, tabbed Explorer replacement, but it also handles all kinds of archive files. That eliminates the need for two more apps just to handle syncs and file extraction. Until someone resurrects Google browser sync or Mozilla Weave handles all my Firefox settings and customizations I'll just let TC do it for me. Yes, it also has an FTP client and text editor, but FileZilla and Notepad++ are better.

Portable Launcher

PStart - It's nice to have quick access to the tools on your flash drive, and PStart gives you that by adding an icon/menu in the system tray. It's searchable, and there's even a tab to store quick notes for yourself.

Multi-Site Torrent Search Tools For the Swarthy Downloader

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:32:00 +0530

So, it's torrent booty ye be after? Well, matey, I'll be happy to share a list of me favorite places to find forbidden treasures.

Millions of torrents, thousands of places to look for them...What's a wayfarin' buccaneer to do? Why, search a whole pile of places at the same time, of course. After all, you're more likely to find gold with seven maps to the same pot than you are with just one.

Enough of the played-out pirate jargon already, on to the sites!

Simultaneous Searching

NowTorrents. Searches up to twelve sites at once. I like the file type tabs and health indicator, and they offer a Firefox and IE compatible search plugin.

uSniff. I wrote about uSniff before, and I use it quite often. I don't really search a lot of different sites, usually just Pirate Bay and IsoHunt, and they're both supported (along with six others). The interface is clean and responds quickly - the search box throws some people off, though. I don't understand why, it's giant, orange, and says "search" on it. They also have a search plugin for IE and Firefox.

ScrapeTorrent. Offers a nice preference page and searches nine sites at once. Piratebay, IsoHunt, Mininova, and Demonoid are included, and they're my go-to sites anyways. I approve!

Speckly. I hate the way it displays results: gobs and gobs of text, Google style, and all on one page. There aren't any sorting options, though you can at least view by file type.

Torrentz. Technically it searches multiple sites, but you'll get a general results page first. Clicking one of the results will take you to a listing of all the individual torrents. I find it an annoying process, and don't use Torrentz as a result.

Manual Multi-Site Searching (Radio buttons and whatnot)

Torrent Pond / ActiveDots. 22 search options for you to search one at a time. I suppose it beats visiting all the sites individually. Way back when, this was my multi-site search of choice.

Torrent Finder. Ok, this one is just ridiculous. Do you really want to spend your time searching 156 torrent sites? There's what, a half dozen or so that are really, really good? I'm not a fan of this behemoth, but it scores some points for being exhaustive.

Great Free Backup Programs for Windows, Mac, and Linux

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:28:00 +0530

Making sure you've got a reliable backup solution is a must for any user - and more so for an administrator. Why? Well, mostly because your users probably aren't very good at remembering to back up their own files. And so it falls to you to provide the right software for the job!

Backup software is a difficult category to tackle nowadays as the distinction between backup and synchronization apps has become a little blurred. Prices being what they are, my personal choice is to use external or removable hard drives for my backup chores - my current favorites are Bonkey and Cobian.

To make sure you've got plenty of options to choose from, I've split this list into three different categories so that you can choose from the options that are best suited to your environment.

Integrated Burning

Comodo Backup [win]
They do make than a great firewall. Comodo Backup is an excellent free solution. It has extremely flexible scheduling and notification options, supports FTP destinations, can burn multisession DVDs, and has a synchronization mode for quick realtime backups.

DFIncBackup [win]
As is the case with most backup applications, there's a free and paid version. The free one still handles CD/DVD backups, and it also does incremental .zip jobs as well - only backing up files that have changed or weren't present in your previous job.

SE Backup [win]
Sports a very simple interface, does CD and DVD burning and compression, and is available as a portable application. Scheduling isn't built in, but it supports command line launching with parameters which works very well with Windows' own Task Scheduler.

File Copy

Abakt [win]
Though it's no longer developed, Abakt is still a great choice. It's got a great file filtering system, supports 7zip and zip compression, file splitting, password protection, and does differential and incremental backups.

Areca [win]
Free, open source, and wicked powerful. Areca is loaded with features: compression, encryption, simulation, merging, transaction commit/rollback, filtering, and more. It's command line interface provides excellent automation options and Areca also supports scripting of post-job actions.

Bonkey [win] [mac]
The "Backup Monkey." If I was giving points for best mascot, this one would be a clear winner.

Bonkey runs on both Windows and Mac, and has a lot of great features. It supports email, FTP, and Amazon S3, compression, encryption, scheduling, and synchronization. It'll even back up MS SQL server databases.

Cobian Backup [win]
Apart from being a great application, Cobian's developer has an excellent tutorial online to help you get started. Though it is no longer open source, you may still download the last version that was (v8). There's also a portable version.

One of my favorite features of Cobian is its ability to handle pre- and post- job events. I use it to issue net stop and net start commands to ensure safe backups of our horrible, horrible point-of-sale system. Cobian also has the ability to control and monitor all its instances on your network from your own workstation.

JaBack [win] [mac]
Allows backup to FTP and email (as well as any drive on your computer or network), and sports a flexible scheduler. It also has a file monitor function that will perform backup operations whenever changes are detected.

Mathusalem [mac]
Offers FTP/SFTP, Amazon S3, WebDav, and SMB support for backups on OSX. Mathusalem can compress to zip and dmg, will resume failed uploads, and supports scheduling and command line launching. It's also open source.

Server-Based

Bacula [win] [mac] [linux]
Bacula is an enterprise grade network backup solution that runs on just about every platform imagineable. It's a much more complex system than the other options I've mentioned, but is extremely powerful and well-suited to a medium or large scale network.

BackupPC [win] [linux]
A Linux-based, client-free enterprise solution for backing up Windows and Linux machines. BackupPC uses SMB, tar, and rsync to extract backup data from client computers. It 's got a powerful web-based interface for administrators and users, and will even email reminders to users that have been remiss in performing backups.

It's a very flexible solution, and is open source.

NasBackup [win] [linux]
Uses a simple Windows GUI and rsync to perform backups from client machines to a central server. It'll do incremental backups, scheduling, compression, encryption, and the server offers useful per-client controls like limiting the number of versions to store and expiration dates. It also provides daily summaries via email.

Restore [win] [mac] [linux]
The self-proclaimed "reason backup was invented." It's definitely a great product, and full of terrific features. Its web interface is very easy to understand and use - and makes it easy for the mobile admin to monitor and control Restore from anywhere.

Restore supports FTP, WebDav, SSH/SFTP, and multiple revisions. It also provides powerful admin tools, making it easy to create and control users, groups, jobs, and scheduling.

Did I miss your favorite app? Share it with us...Admins everywhere will thank you!

Great Open Source Apps & Games to trick out your new Windows install

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:20:00 +0530

This weekend I finished setting up a fresh triple-boot install on my MSI laptop. With my operating systems ready to go, the time had come to start reinstalling applications. While it wasn't a conscious decision, I noticed that the majority of my apps were Open Source - so I decided to keep the ball rolling.

Even if you haven't just gone through a reformat, these are great applications and well worth installing. If you have, then hopefully this list will provide you with a solid base of programs to get you started with your fresh, new Windows install!

Web Browsers: Chromium, Firefox
They excel at different things, so I install both browsers by default. Chromium is great for all-purpose surfing, while I use Firefox and my favorite extensions to tackle my daily web-based work.

Office: OpenOffice.Org, Sumatra, PDFCreator
For lightweight PDF reading and creation from any Windows app, Sumatra and PDFCreator are solid options. OpenOffice.Org, well, it's the name to beat in open source suites.

Media: Songbird, VLC, Handbrake, DVD Flick
I've been using VLC for ages, and it does everything I need as my video player of choice. Audio duties I leave up to Songbird, which has matured into a fantastic application over the past two years. I use Handbrake to, uh, rip my non-encrypted, personal DVDs. DVD Flick lets me burn said rips back onto a disc.

File Transfer: Free Download Manager, Cabos, eMule
FDM is a very underrated torrent app, and it has plenty of other download-boosting abilities as well. I chose it over Vuze because I need FDM's extras (partial zips, Flash downloading, Rapidshare integration) more than Vuze's additional media-handling chops. Cabos trims Limewire down to the bare minimum for the occasional one-off Gnutella download. As for eMule, I use it to find things that I can't find elsewhere.

Imaging: ZScreen, Inkscape, Gimphoto/GimPad, Flickr Uploadr
If you're comfortable with Photoshop but looking for a free alternative, go with Gimphoto instead of Gimp – the interface is very Adobe-esque. For vector image jobs, Inkscape can't be beat. ZScreen handles my screen captures and Flickr Uploadr, well, it does what it says.

Burning and Backup: Infrarecorder, WinCDEmu, Bonkey, and DirSyncPro
These three apps make short work of mounting disc image files, burning just about anything, syncing folders, and keeping a current copy of your files in a safe location.

Messaging and Social Networking: Pidgin and Spaz
Don't sic Mr. Stallman on me – I know Spaz is built on Adobe Air, but the client itself is open. As for multi-protocol messaging apps, Pidgin is a tough bird to beat.

Maintenance and Utilities: 7zip, Belvedere, Ultra Defrag, Disk Cleaner, TrueCrypt
Lifehacker's Belvedere is a great way to organize your files and folders with minimal effort. Ultra Defrag and Disk Cleaner (and a handful of helpful plugins) keep your hard drive clutter free and performing its best. 7zip waits in your context menu to extract files from (or cram files into) archives of all kinds. For encrypting files, folders, or entire volumes, Truecrypt is fast and reliable.

Desktop Enhancements: RocketDock, Launchy, Virtual Dimension
You don't really need both RocketDock and Launchy. If you prefer eye candy, go with Rocket Dock. If you're a keyboard magician, go with Launchy. I run Virtual Dimension because my forays into Linux have me hooked on the benefits of virtual desktops.

Games: AssaultCube, Enigma, FreeCiv, LexJongg, LinCity, Neverball, Nexuiz, PokerTH, TORCS, Tremulous, WinSudoku, Wormux, Zombies.
Using your computer shouldn't be all work, all the time. Kick back and relax or give you brain a casual workout with these great games. LexJongg puts a slightly technogeek spin on traditional mahjong. FPS fans should check out AssaultCube, Nexuiz, and Tremulous. FreeCiv and LinCity offer OSS takes on two classic PC simulations. TORCS is a solid 3d racing sim which will hopefully soon include online action. Wormux and Zombies are fun turn-based strategy games. WinSudoku and PokerTH - I'll assume you know what those are all about.

Top 10 Most Spectacular Concept Bikes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 7 Mar 2010 20:03:00 +0530

Here is a list of 10 most spectacular concept bike ever made. These bikes are created with the singular intention of capturing the imagination of motorbike lovers. Most of these bikes looks best in the hands of an alien in a sci-fi movie. They are designed from scratch to inspire awe, keeping production feasibility in the back burner. Just read and enjoy these wicked creations.

10) Chrysler Tomahawk —

The Tomahawk is a production ready concept bike that was showcased by the car manufacturer Daimler Chrysler. The bike looks more like a sculpture made of chrome and brushed aluminum on wheels than anything else. But mind you, with a massive 8.3 liter V10 engine to move it around, this should comfortably be the fastest bike with an Internal Combustion Engine. The bike produces in excess of 500 horsepower, enough to take-off to 400 miles per hour. However, the mechanical components and tires will certainly limit the bikes capabilities. Although it is a motorbike, technically speaking, its got four wheels and a big bore V10, classic ingredients of a sports car.

9) The Embrio —

In the recent months, we have been hearing a lot of news about green vehicles. Most of the talks were concentrated to hybrid and electricity powered car. A Canadian company called Bombardier has designed a bike called the Embrio. The bike has just a single wheel to support itself. It uses a gyroscope which senses the direction in which the rider leans and moves accordingly. The bike is powered by an electric motor that gets energy from a fuel cell. Inside a Fuel cell, Hydrogen and oxygen chemically react to produce electricity. The only emission from this vehicle is pure water.

8] Detonator V4 6.0 —

The Detonator V4 6.0 is a creation of a bike designer named Daniel Simon. The engine that powers the Detonator lives up to the name of the bike. The engine has four cylinders displacing a total of 6.0 liters, similar to the size of the engines found is certain Supercars and Hypercars. The bike looks like it comes from the pages of a science fiction comic plotted around the year 2050. It can be at best described as a sculpture, or a machine. It breaks every known, conventional belief on how a motor cycle should look like.

7) The Hyanide —

Although this concept bike looks like a pile of shiny metal, its beauty is undeniable. The Hyanide strides forward using a flexible rubber belts, with threads in it, like a military tank or a snow mobile. Powering the concept is a 500cc engine derived from a snow mobile. This single cylinder, oil cooled engine is capable of producing 60 horsepower. The bike has the ability to move over just about any terrain. It is the creation of two German designers Oliver Keller and Tillman Schlootz.

6) The V-Rex —

The V-Rex is a gigantic concept bike that started its life as a computer derived simulation, and then into a real prototype. This bike uses the V-Twin engine from the Harley Davidson V-Rod. This bike is the dream child of an Australian designer Tim Cameron. His dreams got wings when ‘200mph, jet engine powered Y2F’ fame Christian Travert helped him produce this bike for real. Currently, the bike is ready for mass production and rated by experts as one of the most stunning motorcycle designs ever.

5) Batpod —

The Batpod made its appearance for the first time in the last Batman movie, The Dark Knights. It is without a shade of doubt, the most popular concept bike in this list. The bike was created especially for the movie by motorbike designer Nathan Crowley. The bike is ejected from the Batmobile, and features enough power and ammunition to make sure the super hero escapes the bad guys. The bike is powered by a liquid-cooled, single cylinder engine. The reason for the phenomenal acceleration is the low gearing. The other noticeable features about this bike are the fat wheels and the lack of an exhaust pipe.

4) Peraves Monotracer —

The Monotracer is a concept created by Peraves, a Swiss motorcycle manufacturer. It combines sports bike and a car. The controls for this bike are similar to a car, with pedal operated accelerator and a steering wheel. It even has two doors and two seats. The highlight of the concept is the way it goes around corners. It uses retractable wheels to lean up to 52 degrees while cornering to give a driving experience like never before. It is powered by a 1200cc BMW engine generating 130 horsepower.

3) Yamaha Tesseract —

Yamaha went one step further on the MP3 concept shown by Piaggio by making the Tesseract. The Tesseract is a four-wheeled motorbike that can lean hard while going around bends, without any fear of loosing control. The bike is powered by a hybrid V-twin engine to keep the emissions clean. The bike is expected to be on mass production soon.

2) Indian Speed Racer —

The Indian Speed racer concept is all about outlandish styling. It was designed for Indian Motorcycle Company by Dan Bailey. There is a number of stunning design cue in the bike, including the spoke-less wheels that seem to be floating. It is intriguing to note the lack of foot pegs, suggesting that the rider is not going to be in an upright-riding position.

1) Victory Vision 800 —

The Vision 800 is a concept bike made by Victory Motorcycles and showcases just how radically they can think. It uses a 800cc, parallel-twin engine with a Continuously Variable Transmission. With the absence of clutch and gear, all the foot controls are shifted to the handle bars. The bulky front end enhances the design by contrasting to the slim tail. It also provides for a large storage bay.

Google Wave

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 7 Mar 2010 19:33:00 +0530

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

How does it work?
From the Notifications menu, you can select the frequency of your email updates. If you are an infrequent Google Wave user we would recommend the "immediately" setting, but you can change it at any time.

When you're added to a new wave, or a wave that you are on changes, we'll send you an email with a short summary of the text and links to go straight to your updated waves. Rest assured, we know waves can change a lot, so we will only send you one notification about a changed wave until you have logged in to look at it (i.e.: if a wave changes 10 times after we send the first notification, we won't send 10 more emails). Waves you have open also won't trigger updates.

I love this! Please switch on email notifications for all of my friends!
We're still refining this feature and part of that includes getting feedback from enthusiastic users like you.

If you want to use Google Wave with your friends, family or colleagues who aren't logging in frequently, help them to turn on notifications. Then, they can get updates on their Google Wave account, even if they mainly stick to checking their email inbox.

Known issues
This is still a work in progress. For example, we're aware that:

* Sometimes the email snippet does not show all participants on the wave
* Under certain conditions you may get an update about a wave even if you were the last person to change it
* To change the notifications setting you have to go back to the menu where you turned it on. (The link at the bottom of the notification emails is not working yet.)

Without a wave, we would have had to resort to numerous back and forth e-mails, sending graphics files to each other for approval, having people go from office to office to see updates and answer questions and lots of time tracking people down by phone. Instead, we did the entire project in wave in just a fraction of the amount of time it would normally have taken. In fact, you will see a comment by Jennifer near the bottom of the wave where she says she is seriously crying at her desk. She is referring to the fact that we got through this project in just a fraction of the time it would normally have taken and without a lot of the hassles we normally have in something like this.

This week, we're launching two new features to help you manage the waves you create: making participants read-only and restoring a wave to an earlier state.

Read-Only Participants
The creator of a wave can now change other participants on the wave between full access and read-only by clicking on their picture at the top of the wave panel, and selecting the access level in the drop-down:

As the name implies, read-only participants are prevented from making any changes to the wave, including adding new participants. They can, however, view live changes to the wave, and look at the history in playback.

You can make entire groups read-only as well, including the "public" group, which includes all Google Wave users. Note that individual permissions take precedence over group permissions, so even if a group has full access, an individual can be given read-only access, and vice versa.

Restore from Playback
Anyone with full access to a wave can now restore that wave to any previous state visible in playback:

Restoring does not delete anything from the playback history, but adds the restored state to the end of the history. That way you can use the new restore function to correct mistakes you or others make in a wave (including restoring the the wrong state!).

For the Public people We've occasionally received reports from users of public waves that they found it difficult to keep their waves on topic. Read-only and restore may help in such cases: the creator of the wave can make some participants read-only, and then restore the wave to a point they liked.

Future Features These two simple features are only the beginning of a set of things on our drawing board aimed at giving users better control over waves they create. For example, we're planning to introduce a third access setting -- 'Reply-only' -- that would let users add new blips, but prevent them from editing blips they did not create. We're also re-designing the interface to let you change permissions for several participants more easily.

Ritesh Patel : London Olympics 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:47:00 +0530

Are the people at brand consultancy firm Wolff Olins been drinking on the job? The logo for the 2012 London Olympics above has generated a public outcry and has over 35,000 people signing a petition to scrap it.

The cost to make this logo was 400,000 UK pounds and it took almost a year to create.

Tory MP Philip Davies, who sits on the culture, media and sport select committee, said he would table a Parliamentary motion calling for organisers to scrap the jagged emblem based on the date 2012.

Even London Mayor Ken Livingstone refused to back the pink and orange logo and even suggested that the Olympic organisers refuse to pay the 400,000 UK pound bill.

Olympic organisers beg to differ saying that the logo was "dynamic" and "vibrant." They have insisted that it will not be ditched.

Daily Mail

The "Thank You" campaign to get the 2012 Olympics was done much better than this load of rubbish. Honestly, who would wear a pink/orange shirt?

In response, many amateur artists and designers have submitted their idea of an Olympic logo. Many of these are much better than Wolff Olins'.

They really need to drop this jagged logo if they want to prevent further embarassment. First was their overbloated budget for the Olympics. Now it's their "girly" Olympic logo. What's next in store? London has about 5 years to go.

This logo created by BBC web site reader Richard Voysey has been chosen as the readers' favorite in an online poll.

Over 22,000 votes were cast on a shortlist of six readers' designs.

Meanwhile, Michael Wolff, co-founder of designers Wolff Olins, which created the jagged logo, said it had not been "done justice" and blamed Olympic organisers for not publicising it properly.

Boo hoo. It still sucked regardless.

I wonder how many stores will sell both logos. I guess the London Olympic will try to stop that, but they cannot stop everyone.

Top 10 Brands

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:41:00 +0530

If you canvass the Internet for lists of top brands, you’ll most likely see the following breakdown: Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, GE, Intel, Nokia, Disney, McDonalds, Marlboro and Mercedes. Now these are amazing companies, but we see top brands offering more than longevity, tradition and clever creativity. Today’s standouts are turning categories on their ear. Affecting cultural shifts. And making us gasp at their innovative aspirations. Who might these brands be? Here are our Top 10 Brands:

10. Coca-Cola®

Unless you grew up on Mars, you know what Coca-Cola is. This carbonated, caramel-colored beverage has consistently been an American favorite, despite the intense competition that arrives annually on supermarket shelves. How does it seem to hold onto its crown in the face of so much liquid brand competition? This is not just an American brand. It’s a global phenomenon. It even spawned the song, “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing.” Coca-Cola, the world continues to sing your praises.

9. Disney

This is one company that does not rest on its laurels. Disney has their fingers in practically every proverbial pie from theme parks and movie making to hotels, cruise ships and more. Just the merchandising aspects alone are mind-boggling. Disney is one of those classic American brands we all grew up with and hold near and dear to our collective heart. It would take something fairly cataclysmic to knock Disney off its rarified perch.

8. Whole Foods Market ®

Walk into any Whole Foods Market and your eyes are dazzled by the perfection of fruits and vegetables tumbling from bins and barrels, aisles of interesting foods with brand names you’ve never heard of and a bakery and deli that makes you think you just walked into Mom’s kitchen. This unique shopping experience takes going to the market from chore status to fun adventure. Fueled by the growing natural and organic food industry movement, Whole Foods’ business methodology of “Conscious Capitalism” is most definitely resonating with a population yearning for something more in tune with our planet… and ourselves.

7. Nintendo®

“Wii™ would like to play.” This tiny little statement has caused a large-scale revolution in the competitive world of video gaming. Nintendo, having performed sluggishly over the last decade, found the right formula for success. By providing a social gaming experience, family and friends are now playing games together (yes, even Mom and Dad). As a result, Wii has outperformed both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, giving consumers considerable angst because Wii flies off shelves faster than you can say “Nunchuk.” Nintendo’s vision has the gaming industry turning another corner, yet again.

6. BMW

It goes without saying that the “ultimate driving machine” is a BMW. Performance coupled with aggressive styling has been BMW’s unique selling proposition for decades, and the brand has consistently and relentlessly delivered on this platform. The A-type attitude exhibited in product design and in advertising campaigns resonates with buyers who see themselves not just as BMW owners, but BMW enthusiasts. Talk about brand advocates. This is one mean branding machine.

5. Starbucks®

Ah… the aroma of a brand that started a coffeehouse revolution. Of course, we’re talking about that Seattle powerhouse, Starbucks. Whimsical and quirky with a corporate culture that practices environmental sustainability, this brand upgraded coffee from beverage status to fashion statement – Blackberry® in one hand, Grande Latte in the other. When you actually find yourself saying things like “barista,” “frappuccino,” and “double shot with soy hold the whip,” you know you’re not just buying coffee – you’ve bought into a cultural movemen

4. Target®

Every brand needs a dog with a bulls-eye. This company decided it no longer wanted to be lumped with the KMarts and Wal-Marts® of the world. There was a whole audience out there clamoring for cheap chic and Target delivered with red and white panache. Right on target.

3. Nike

Can anyone forget the 1984 Orwellian runner or the Lemmings campaign? It wasn’t just jaw-dropping genius. It literally broke the advertising mold. Ever since, Nike has attempted to one-up themselves with bold products and campaigns that offer enough attitude to spare, and they’ve done a pretty smart job of it. You know your brand’s doing just fine when you can remove the name from the logo and consumers can still identify the company. Swoosh!

2. Apple

Apple subscribes to the “less is more” theory and uses it to powerful effect, both in product design and advertising. Anything not absolutely necessary is stripped away to reveal purity and a sense of magic. From their iconic logo to iPod’s campaign of gyrating silhouettes against a kaleidoscope of color, Apple is more than a brand—it’s a culture.

1. Google™

When an actual brand name becomes part of our daily vernacular, it has achieved the epitome of brand recognition. Google, once dubbed the search engine for business, has leapt past Yahoo® into the communal pool where everyone swims for information. Tools like Google ADWords, Ad Sense and Analytics have become so widely proliferated and used, that the term “Just Google It” no longer sounds silly. In fact, it’s quite sensible.

Top 10 Reasons to Fear Google

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:40:00 +0530

There are naysayers in every crowd. They are the people who hate Microsoft because it’s so ubiquitous. On the same page, there are people who loath Wal-Mart because it is a global company that is supposedly wrecking local retailers everywhere. But when most people think of operating systems or cheap shopping, they think Wal-Mart and Microsoft.

Enter Google. Once just a search engine, it is now sprouting up extensions like Jack’s bean stalk on steroids. These extensions are what’s making Google so irreplaceable for many people who want the one stop shop. Google is fast becoming the Wal-Mart of the Internet. And it’s for that reason that some people are starting to fear the company.

Editor’s Note: This list was written in June 2008, therefore Chrome and Buzz are not included.

10. Google Video

When most people think of looking for videos, YouTube is the automatic choice. However, Google has gone a step beyond YouTube. Not only does a Video search yield all of the YouTube results and play them in the Google window, but the search engine also searches the entire web for your content. While Google Video may not feature categories like YouTube, when you can search the entire web, who cares?

9. Google Maps & Google Earth

A few years ago, Google created an application called Google Earth that would let a person input an address and the application would give them the most recent satellite images of that area. Another nifty feature was the ability to plot a course between multiple locations similar to Mapquest.com. Now Google Maps has taken on Mapquest and many other map making companies. However, Google Maps has gone beyond the simple map adding in the flexibility of a Yellow Pages with displayed directions to the pizza parlor or local electronics store.

8. Google Books & Google Scholar

Libraries across the world are wondering what they will do with all the books they house once Google is done. Years ago, Google Books announced that it would try to make every page of every book available and searchable online. They are still working on that one due to copyright laws; however, they have now made searchable many scholarly articles. The library may still be the place to complete most of your research, but maybe not for long.

7. Google News

Who wouldn’t like a searchable database of recent articles on any topic imaginable? Perhaps the media companies who want to be the sole source for your news gathering. Though having that searchable source of news might mean a more balanced view of the news, when someone gets thousands or millions of hits, how do they choose what is the best news source for them?

6. Google Shopping

Retailers everywhere are cringing over the fact that their prices are being compared to other retailers with one simple click. The Google Shopping feature searches Web sites for whatever you want and gives you only what you want or more than you can handle when you are not specific. eBay and Paypal beware – Google Checkout is coming. You will soon be able to do all of your shopping through Google as well.

5. iGoogle

Similar to Yahoo, Google has branched out by giving the search engine a customizable homepage with multiple features such as news feeds, weather, horoscopes and others. A one-stop shop has a tendency to leave out all the small details that some people crave; and it seems like iGoogle could be just the icing rather than the whole cake when it comes to the details.

4. G-mail

Again like Yahoo and even Microsoft, Google has created an online e-mail system. While millions of people have been using online e-mail for the last decade, this is just one more step for the Big G in making it the first and only destination on the Web.

3. Google Docs

Google is not satisfied just going after Yahoo, Mapquest, libraries and retailers. Microsoft and all the other word processing software companies beware. Now with a G-mail account, you can create documents such as invoices, letters, calendars and many more. Or how about a PowerPoint like presentation? The possibilities seem endless and your documents can be accessed by yourself and anyone else you allow online. Who needs Word anyways?

2. Frankenstein Internet

What Google has not created itself, it has started to wrap under its envelope. YouTube and Blogger are just two examples of other sites that have joined forces with the G Empire to create a monster. And if Google can’t find a suitable partner, then it has started to build its own version of popular sites such as an IM system (Google Talk), a social networking site like Facebook (Orkut) and other features. With pieces and parts from here, there and everywhere, one has to wonder if Google isn’t going to fall in the same trap as Microsoft – being too large and diverse to get one thing right.

1. Google

The main thing that Google is known as is, of course, a search engine. And that is one thing they have done correctly though many people question the validity of the search optimization methods used by the company. That said when most people want information where do they go? Google, of course. The name is so synonymous with search engines that is has been added to the dictionary as a known for searching on the Internet. If that’s not scary enough for you, perhaps you should Google scary see what you think is scarier.

Top 10 Classic Movie Studio Logos

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:40:00 +0530

The best part of a movie is rarely the movie studio’s logo at the beginning, unless you are watching a really bad movie. But we all can admit to being a little excited when seeing some of the following logos because that means the movie will soon follow. Some of these logos were all but forgotten until I saw the movie clips and read this list. I am very pleased to present this very clever list of classic movie logos along with a trip down memory lane for some of us older movie buffs. Now turn down the lights and enjoy the movie…logos.

10. Selznick

The mansion in the Selznick logo was a set for of its earliest films. Along with Newman’s chime fanfare, it radiates an aura of dignity without the stuffiness of the old Fox logo.

9. 20th Century Fox

Alfred Newman’s fanfare is the best known of all studio musical signatures. And the spotlights scream “Hollywood”. But I love best of all the new mobile CGI logo; what was stodgy and staid is now vivid and exciting, and I go for those spotlights swooping to the fanfare!

8. Warner Brothers

The Warners shield started in the silent days, then came “The Jazz Singer” and it evolved into the classic version we know and love. From Bugs Bunny to Bogart and Cagney, from old-style title card to CGI glamour, the old Art Deco shield keeps getting better as time goes by!

7. Universal

Would you believe Carl Laemmle named Universal after seeing a pipe fitting wagon? The airplane going around the globe with “A Universal Picture coming after was pretty classy. Sadly, the globe became too bland in the decades after. But now its CGI treatment has given it new glory, and it’s my favorite version too!

6. Rank

The Rank gong man is one of the most portentous looking and sounding logos, right up there with MGM’s Leo. Was it inspired by the title sequence of “Gunga Din”? It stands with London Films’ Big Ben and surpasses the Gainsborough lady in my opinion; I believe this and the Archers’ target are Britain’s best film logos.

5. Columbia

Ah, the Lady with the Lamp! Whether she was inspired by the Statue of Liberty or not, she’s preceded practically everyone from Frank Capra to the Three Stooges. Remember ‘The Mouse That Roared” and what the Lady did? She looks even better now in her CGI incarnation.

4. Paramount

The star-haloed mountain was inspired by a real one in Utah (and the studio’s name from a N.Y. apartment house!). It has signified “paramount” entertainment since the silents. And I think the new moving CGI logo is the best of all versions of this favorite of mine!

3. RKO

The radio tower on the globe symbolizes the merger of RCA with the Keith-Orpheum Vaudeville chain, and RKO started at the outset of the early sound era. The beeping tower has introduced King Kong, Charles Foster Kane, Astaire and Rogers, and all those other great RKO classics. I just love it!

2. The Archers

Editor’s Note: The Archers Logo does not show up at first in the movie clip. It begins 20 seconds into the clip.

At first Michael Powell co-founded Westminster Pictures with Big Ben its logo, until Alex Korda stole it for his London Films. Then Powell co-directed the 1940 classic “Thief of Baghdad” and with his partner Emeric Pressburger was inspired by an arrow-shooting scene to use the now-familiar arrow in the target. It’s heralded many of their best films: “Red Shoes”, “Black Narcissus”, “49th Parallel” et al. It’s one of my all-time favorites too and redolent of the Robin Hood legends (appropriate for an English studio).

1. MGM

What can I say? All the movies Leo has preceded…”Singin’ In The Rain”, ‘Wizard of Oz”, “Harvey Girls”…Howard Dietz, who wrote the lyrics for “Dancing in the Dark” and others, adapted the lion from his old alma mater, Columbia. (Ironic,huh?) And it’s still loved today. As the Bard said “Well roared, Lion!”

Top 10 Strangest Philosophies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:39:00 +0530

Despite many believing philosophy is a “useless major” or a “waste of time,” it’s definitely a great way to boggle your mind by your own doing. It’s one thing to be confused by someone else, and a completely different feeling to confuse your own self. Who doesn’t enjoy perplexing themselves to no end, or thinking so hard your head literally hurts? Count me in.

I’m no philosopher, nor a philosophy major, but I can say in my time of reading works by some of the most famous philosophers to even some of the lesser known ones, and from browsing random books and websites, I’ve run across some extremely odd theories. Some of them make some sort of sense, while others completely go over my head. Of course, they do all make sense when looking at society and views of life during that time. As the great Cicero once said, “There is no statement so absurd that no philosopher will make it.” Here is a list of 10 philosophies that are just pure strange.
10. Idealism
aristotle

Idealist theory says that there are no foundational beliefs. Instead, our beliefs exist in a system of interconnected perceptions. With this theory, you can ultimately conclude that no one belief is more important than the next. In the end, this theory is extremely circular. If a certain belief is true because it coheres or fits with others, then what do they cohere with? Sadly, there is no answer. In the end you’re stuck in an infinite regression.

9. Innatism (Innate ideas)
smart-baby1

Innatism states that the mind is born and already loaded with ideas as well as knowledge. This view was created in order to disprove John Locke’s idea of the human mind being a “tabula rasa” that is eventually filled throughout life with experience. The theory holds that the we already known simple mathematical truths, such as 2+2=4 and the truths about God. But, if this theory is true, why do humans have a hard time adding up larger numbers? (ie. 1359+3515) And, if we have these innate ideas, why doesn’t everyone believe in the religious truths? And how do we know we learned something? Could it be that we just remembered it?
8. Animism
800px-calton_wish_tree

The Wish Tree on Calton Hill, Scotland, viewed on Beltane Eve (April 30). A wish tree is a modern practice based on the animism practised by early pagan peoples of Europe such as the Celts and Anglo-Saxons.

Animism states that when looking at souls and spirits, the two not only exist in humans and animals, but they also exist in things such as rocks, plants, thunder, mountains, and other objects. Many argue that animism is only used in cultures where religion and society aren’t as built-upon science and math. Many critics explain that the philosophy of animism is only used to provide answers to unknown questions. I can’t believe the rock I run over on an unpaved road has a soul.
7. Logical atomism
bertrand_russell_image

Popularized by Bertrand Russell, the theory states that world consists of logical “facts” (aka “atoms”) that cannot be broken down any further. It also states that all truths are dependent upon a layer of atomic facts. Therefore, the theory asserts that language mirrors reality. This is just one philosophy that I don’t understand. In the end it says that the world is just made up of facts that are extremely simple and easy to comprehend.
6. Deconstructionism
jacquesderrida

Given the name by Jacques Derrida, the theory states that there is no one meaning when observing a piece of text. Instead, a text has several different meanings. The theory also states that when given a piece of literature, the reader ultimately decides what the meaning is, not the text in the book. I used to find deconstruction pretty valid, but in a sense, it does make literature meaningless. If you reduce and reduce the meaning of something so much, it in the end has no purpose. And if we always determine the meaning of something, how can anyone ever have a misunderstanding? You can just simply say no, that is my interpretation of what you said.
5. Phenomenalism
2855661699_9fcf338712

Phenomenalism states that physical objects do not exist as things in themselves but only as perceptual phenomena. Meaning, we can’t know anything is real beyond what we perceive and verify. Despite how neat it sounds, phenomenalism has its issues. What do we consider “verified?” And what about math? Math surely is real and it doesn’t require sensory perception.
4. Ethical egoism
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Ethical egoism states that moral agents ought to do what is in their own self-interest. Basically, it is necessary and sufficient for an action to be morally right that it is able to maximize one’s self-interest. This means that we only act on certain morals and actions because of our own self-interest and that these actions are right. The theory would basically support that stealing money is right, as it feeds our self-interest and brings a higher reward.
3. Moral absolutism
Pope

In my mind, nothing is absolute, so moral absolutism just doesn’t work for me. The theory holds that there are absolute rights and wrongs, no matter the context of the act. This brings up one of the more popular philosophical questions; is it okay to lie for a greater good? Let’s say you tell a lie to save a life. Is that morally wrong because lying is seen as wrong? Who knows, it never ends. Then you start wondering if morals are even real. photo by Michael Guerreiro
2. Neutral monism
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Neutral monism says that the mental and the physical are not two fundamentally different things. Instead, the view holds that the body and the mind are made up of the same material, which isn’t mental or physical. Only problem I see with this theory is that it is entirely mental. Is it not? The theory assumes that the mind is “real” and relies heavily on mental ability. And…do we experience outside of our minds? Perception? Sensation? Where do they fit in? photo by hyg-27
1. Solipsism

solipsist-convention

Comic from Toothpaste for Dinner

I’d have to say that solipsism is what made me want to write this list. By dictionary definition, solipsism is a philosophical theory that states that a person can know nothing but that he/she exists, and that the self is the only existent thing. In common words, solipsism expresses that you believe you are the only real thing. Talk about extremely egocentrism. I think I’ll start a solipsism club!

Top 10 Time Travel Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:39:00 +0530

When I came up with this list of the top ten time travel movies I set some parameters. The movie must have time travel central to the plot. And when you think of the movie, the theme of time travel must jump to the forefront. So movies like Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery were dropped from contention, because even though Austin travels back in time, the theme of time travel isn’t prevalent in the movie.

I also decided that characters must move through the time continuum and not simply “sleep” through time such as in Planet of the Apes or live through time as in Highlander. Likewise, “time loop” films were excluded, such as Groundhog Day and Run Lola Run. While all these films were excellent, I wanted to stay true to actual time travel.

If you have any additional time travel movies, please leave a comment. If you wish to create your own top ten list, please submit it to TopTenz.net.
10. Butterfly Effect
“Nothing’s all better, okay? Nothing ever gets better!”

A college student (Ashton Kutcher) discovers a way to travel back in time to his troubled childhood as himself at that age. His goal is to change his life by changing painful events from his childhood. He finds that a very small change from his childhood will dramatically change his life today. He is not pleased with the results of his first trip back, so he makes another trip to change another bad event, hoping for a better life. Unfortunately, he must return to his childhood many times, because his alternate future gets worse with each trip. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

9. The Time Machine (1960)
“If that machine can do what you say it can do, destroy it, George! Destroy it before it destroys you!”

From the book by H.G. Wells, a scientist and tinkerer builds a time machine and uses it to explore the distant future where there are two races, a mild gentle race, and a cannibalistic one living underground. His machine is stolen by the underground race and he must risk being captured (and eaten) to return to his own time. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}
8. Time Bandits
“If I were creating the world I wouldn’t mess about with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers, eight o’clock, Day One!”

A young boy’s wardrobe contains a time hole. Through this hole an assortment of short people (i.e. dwarfs) come while escaping from their master, the supreme being. They take Kevin with them on their adventures through time from Napoleonic times to the Middle Ages to the early 1900s, to the time of Legends and the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness where they confront Evil. Written by Zaphod {aaa@scs.leeds.ac.uk}

7. Returner
The fate of the world is a matter of time.

After an alien invasion threatens to annihilate the human race, a young Japanese girl, named Milly , travels back in time from 2084 to October 2002, and enlists the reluctant aid of skilled Tokyo gunman to discover and prevent the start of the war. However, trouble ensues when the two protagonists are forced to deal with a Japanese mafia boss who is somehow involved in the start of the war by keeping the first alien spaceship and its alien pilot captive, while our two heroes race against the clock to find a way to stop the oncoming destruction from the vengeance-seeking alien invasion fleet on its way to Earth. Written by Exile-Inc

6. StarTrek – First Contact
“Brave words. I’ve heard them before, from thousands of species across thousands of worlds, since long before you were created. But, now they are all Borg.”

It is the 24th century, and a collective of part humanoid, part machine beings face the Federation in what would be the biggest battle of all time. This collective, called the Borg, lose, and desperately attempt to go back in time to April 4th, 2063, to stop Earth’s First Contact with an alien species (the Vulcans, to be precise). Captain Picard, and the crew of the Enterprise-E (NCC 1701-E) go back in time to make sure that Zefram Cochrane makes his warp flight. The Enterprise runs into unexpected trouble, however, when they start to assimilate the Enterprise. Written by Julian King {king@fl.net.au}

5. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
“As you can see, Genghis very much enjoys Twinkies because of the excellent sugar rush.”

Ted “Theodore” Logan and Bill S. Preston esquire won’t graduate if they don’t do well in their history presentation. This would be both bogus and uncool ! A dude called Rufus comes from the future in a telephone box to help them, as their lives are apparently rather important to the future of mankind ! They travel through time doing some interesting research for their history presentation, and generally being excellent to each other ! Written by Colin Tinto {cst@imdb.com}
4. 12 Monkeys
“Look at them. They’re just asking for it. Maybe the human race deserves to be wiped out.”

An unknown and lethal virus has wiped out five billion people in 1996. Only 1% of the population has survived by the year 2035, and is forced to live underground. A convict (James Cole) reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to 1996 to gather information about the origin of the epidemic (who he’s told was spread by a mysterious “Army of the Twelve Monkeys”) and locate the virus before it mutates so that scientists can study it. Unfortunately Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990, six years earlier than expected, and is arrested and locked up in a mental institution, where he meets Dr. Kathryn Railly, a psychiatrist, and Jeffrey Goines, the insane son of a famous scientist and virus expert. Written by Giancarlo Cairella {vertigo@imdb.com}
3. Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home
“C’mon Spock, it’s me, McCoy. You really have gone where no man’s gone before. Can’t you tell me what it felt like?”

The most acclaimed Star Trek adventure of all time. It’s the 23rd Century, and a mysterious alien power is threatening Earth by evaporating the oceans and destroying the atmosphere. In their frantic attempt to save mankind, Kirk and his crew must time travel back to 1986 San Francisco where they find a world of punk, pizza, and exact-change buses that are as alien to them as anything they’ve ever encountered in the far reaches of the galaxy. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy return as Kirk and Spock, along with the entire Star Trek crew. Written by Robert Lynch {docrlynch@yahoo.com}

2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
“Can you learn stuff you haven’t been programmed with so you could be… you know, more human? And not such a dork all the time? “

It has been ten long years since a Terminator failed to kill Sarah Connor and her unborn son, John. Now, Skynet has sent back another Terminator. This one being more advanced than the last one. John Connor, who is now ten years old, is the target. The future John sends back a replica of the Terminator that tried to kill him back in time to 1995. It’s Terminator vs. Terminator. Written by Ricky Steck (rickysteck@sbcglobal.net)

1. Back To The Future
“Wait a minute, Doc. Ah… Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?”

The year is 1985 and Marty McFly is your everyday teenager, except for one problem. He is stuck in 1955. After his good friend Doc Emmett Brown is gunned down, Marty ends up sending the DeLorean back thirty years into the past. Now, he must find the Doc and convince him that he is from the future, in order for the Doc to send him back to the future, but this is the least of Marty’s problem. After accidentally getting in the way of the important meeting between his future mother and father, Marty must get them back together before he changes time forever, and destroys his own existence.

Top 10 Worst Olympic Mascots

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:39:00 +0530

A good Mascot is a symbol of the spirit of the Olympics in general; while, at the same time, teaching the world something about the country where the event is taking place. I also feel that mascots should exude a positive and focused energy and enthusiasm for the games as well as the city, country and culture they represent.
10. MukMuk (2010, Vancouver Winter Games)

This character is supposed to be a Vancouver Island Marmot but it would be more accurate to describe him as an underdog. He is the ‘designated sidekick’ of the three official mascots for the Winter Games: Quatchi, Miga and Sumi. It’s like the real mascots are saying, “Okay MukMuk you can hang out with us but you’re not really one of us.” And pathetic little MukMuk says, “Gee, thanks guys! Woo hoo!”.

While the official mascots are out in the real world promoting the Olympics (okay, they are really just humans in costume) MukMuk the wannabe just exists on the internet and is not even important enough to include on the souvenir merchandise. Poor little guy.

You can read more about little MukMuk’s plight.

9. Hosuni (1988, Seoul Summer Games)

Who? Exactly. The Seoul Games actually had two mascots, Hodori and Hosuni, but for some reason Hodori was way more popular. When you look at a picture of them, it’s hard to see why since they look EXACTLY THE SAME. Being the unpopular one is bad enough, but how about being completely erased from everyone’s memory? If you look up information about mascots on the Official Website of the Beijing Olympic Games, Hosuni isn’t even mentioned. It’s like she never even existed.
8. Cobi (1992, Barcelona Summer Games)

I have to admit this character is really, really cute. But in what stretch of the imagination does a dog wearing a business suit symbolize the Olympics? Have they added ‘commuting’ to the Olympic events? Or possibly ‘handshaking’ or ‘powerpoint presenting’? I think not.
7. Hidy & Howdy (1988, Calgary Winter Games)

Okay we get it, Calgary’s nickname is Cowtown and they have a big rodeo every year (the Calgary Stampede) so the cowboy/cowgirl theme makes sense. But ‘Hidy’ and ‘Howdy’? Why not just call them ‘Hick’ and ‘Hillbilly’? To make things worse, they were touted as ‘inseparable brother and sister polar bears’. Kind of cute or just creepy in that whole Angelina Jolie and her brother kind of way?
6. Waldi (1972, Munich Summer Games)

When I picture dogs competing in the various Olympic Summer Events (and I do this all the time, of course) I see a greyhound jumping hurdles, a Labrador retriever swimming and a whippet running around a track. But I never, ever, picture a short-legged, long-haired dachshund named Waldi. And, for goodness sake – it’s the Summer Olympics, Waldi, you can take off the sweater!

Waldi would have appeared closer to the number one position but he is the very first Olympic mascot ever so I’ve decided to ‘throw Munich a bone’.
5. Rocky (1980, Lake Placid Winter Games)

The mascot for the Lake Placid Winter Games was going to be a real live raccoon named Rocky but unfortunately he passed away before the games even began. A dead raccoon is not very inspiring or cute. In fact, it’s right up there with roadkill. I looked all over the web and could not find out how Rocky died. The most obvious suspect would be Roni, the cartoon raccoon who replaced him, but apparently his neighbor Wiley Coyote backed up his alibi. Rest in peace Rocky.
4. Athena and Phevos (2004, Athens Summer Games)

Otherwise known as Two Penises Wearing Sweaters or Two **** Wearing Dickies…
3. Olly, Syd and Millie (2000, Sydney Summer Games)

These forgettable mascots were completely upstaged by the unofficial mascot of the Sydney Summer Games, Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat. Fatso even appeared on the winners’ podium with several gold medalists. Meanwhile, poor Olly, Syd and Millie were being referred to as “Syd, Ollie and Dickhead” by the popular Australian comic duo Roy and HG. The Olympic Committee tried to discourage Fatso’s popularity at first but he became so popular that he ended up on a commemorative stamp and there is a statue of him outside the Sydney Olympic stadium.
2. Izzy (1996, Atlanta Summer Games)

Arguably the least successful mascot of all and evidently controlled by the most indecisive people in the world. First of all, not even the creators seem to know what he is supposed to be: isn’t Izzy short for ‘Whatizit’ or ‘Whatizhee’? And no one seemed to be able to settle on what he should look like either because his nose, size and eyes changed over time.
An article on the BBC news website quotes Simpsons creator Matt Groenig as describing Izzy as “a bad marriage of the Pillsbury doughboy and the ugliest California Raisin”. It then goes on to say that the US press described “as anything from a ‘blue slug’ to a ‘sperm in sneakers’. Source: BBC News

As a parting shot, perhaps I still have Athena and Phevos on my mind, but I have to agree Izzy does kind of look like a big blue sperm?
1. The Fuwa (2008, Beijing)

I am rating the Fuwa the worst mascot because, while others have been unpopular, confusing or silly, these bad luck dolls of Beijing are becoming downright ominous. Fuwa translates to the ‘good-luck dolls’ but you be the judge. First, the famous Chinese artist, Han Meilin, had two heart attacks while he was designing them. And now, each of the five characters that make up the Fuwa have been linked to events which have led to the superstitious term ‘the Curse of the Fuwa’. Nini (swallow/kite/locust figure) is linked to the Weifang T195 (“kite city”) train accident in April 2008 and the locust infestation in Inner Mongolia in June 2008. Yingying (the Tibetan antelope) is an obvious choice for association with the Tibetan unrest. Huanhuan, representing the Olympic flame, is being linked to the torch relay protests. Also, the Sichuan area, which suffered a catastrophic earthquake on May 12, 2008 is well known for its pandas and the fourth mascot, Jing Jing, is a panda character. The fifth and final Fuwa mascot is Beibeig, a fish who is representing the element water in the group. He is being associated to the floods in South China as well as an algal bloom in the Olympic sailing course.

According to Wikipedia, some people are now calling the characters “Wuwa” (witch dolls) instead of Fuwa and “online criticism of the dolls has frequently been censored”.

Personally, I think they are cute but I wonder how souvenir sales are doing? Are people reluctant to bring the bad mojo of these Fuwa/Wuwa into their homes?
Favorite Unofficial Mascots

Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat is probably the most famous unofficial mascot but he’s not the first. That distinction goes to Schuss the unofficial mascot of the 1968 Grenoble Olympic games. The tradition continues with Itchy the Bedbug, Creepy the Cockroach and Chewy the Rat, unofficial mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics who appeared at the “Poverty Olympics” in 2008 to raise awareness for the poor and homeless.

Top 10 Metrosexuals

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:38:00 +0530

These truly modern guys are unafraid to buy beauty products, wear makeup, and get pedicures. Confident in their masculinity, they push the envelope as society’s top ten metrosexuals. Metros have been defined as “straight guys who look gay”.
10. Dave Navarro

Rockers are renowned for their use of makeup and their love of chains and leather: Dave Navarro takes it even further. In his reality show with Carmen Electra, she confessed that she never thought she would end up with a guy who “spends more time in front of the mirror than I do”. They are now divorced, but probably not because Dave is a confirmed metrosexual.

9. Pete Wentz

Another rocker with a taste for black eyeliner and super-styled hair, Pete is nonetheless a faithful heterosexual boyfriend to the new and improved Ashlee Simpson: they are expecting their first child in a few months.
8. A-Rod

This superstar athlete is known for his frosty highlights and his ever-expanding wardrobe. He’s also suspected of having a hot affair with the 50-year old icon Madonna.
7. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers

This gorgeous actor is known for his sexually ambiguous parts: he can switch from Seventies’ gay glam rocker, to Elvis, to King Henry the Eighth! He is also known for his love of skin products, high fashion, and 18,000 dollar Fendi couches.
6. Lenny Kravitz

The rich hippie of our Metrosexual list, Kravitz has taken his bohemian look to the extreme, with custom-made leather, a lot of high-end jewelry, and an abiding interest in his own image.
5. Prince

Perhaps the top metrosexual of the Eighties, before the term was even invented, Prince was highly gifted and totally unapologetic about his desire to wear makeup, pink and purple suits, and satin boots with five-inch heels. Who could forget the backless pants he wore to the music awards?
4. Chace Crawford

The Gossip Girl star has been plagued with gay rumors, like so many other pretty-boy actors, but he denies being homosexual. His layered hair and expertly groomed persona, complete with runway-ready casual wear and suits, has made his the youngest metro on our list, and, in the eyes of young fans, the dreamiest.
3. Ryan Seacrest

A rabid metrosexual whose interest in his own appearance is a running joke on American Idol, Seacrest is also plagued with gay rumors that he denies. His highlights may be gone now, but he remains a fashion aficionado with immaculate grooming and a serious wardrobe.
2. Dominic Monaghan

The Lost star thinks he should probably “be gay” because he loves painting his nails and dressing up in skirts. He dates his beautiful costar, Evangeline Lilly, who clearly has no issues with his metrosexuality.
1.) David Beckham

The fairest of them all, David Beckham has redefined male style with his fashion-forward outfits and skin art. David Beckham never seems to wear the same thing twice, and his sports prowess and new cologne business have made him the most powerful and desired metrosexual man in the world.

Top 10 Rulers in History

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:38:00 +0530

There have truly been many great rulers in history. Some managed to conquer the world, some managed to end violence and put their countries into periods of peace and stability, and some changed not only their nations, but the world. Here are history’s greatest rulers:
10. Hitler
hitler460

Yes, that’s right. The creator of the Nazi party, the man responsible for mass genocide during World War II, was indeed a great ruler. Germany was in bad times when Hitler rose to power, and Hitler was the charamistic leader that the Germans could look up to. This one man blamed all of Germany’s problems on a scapegoat: the Jews living in Germany at the time, and somehow managed to convince the entire country of Germany that it really was the Jews’ fault for all of Germany’s problems. Even if it was a terrible thing to do, it was no mean feat and required the skills and prowess of a great leader.

9. Odysseus
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In Greek mythology, Odysseus was the Greek king of Ithaca with achievements so great he was immortalized in Homer’s epic The Odyssey. Odysseus’s renowned intelligence and cunning supplements his strong combative skills. Odysseus managed to trick the Trojans during the Trojan War by building a wooden horse and hiding his soldiers in it. The Trojans took the horse into their city and into their walls, and just like that, the Greeks got past the impenetrable walls of Troy. Odysseus also managed to take back his kingdom of Ithaca after it was overrun with selfish tyrants and single-handedly saved his kingdom.
8. Caesar
julius-caesar

Caesar, also known as Augustus, became the first emperor of the Roman Empire and ruled from 27 BC until his assassination in 14 AD. His rule established an era of unfamiliar peace and quiet, known as the Pax Romana, a feat that had never before been accomplished. Caesar managed to acquire total power but he didn’t have to use any false promises and lies like rulers before him.
7. Alexander the Great
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Known for his brutal and legendary military tactics, Alexander was probably one of the best if not the best military commanders of all time. He was definitely one of the most successful, however, conquering much of the world at the time and sometimes making entire cities surrender to him without killing a single person.
6. Joseph II
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Joseph II was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790. He was the first ruler of Austrian dominions of the House of Lorraine. Joseph is probably history’s most unselfish ruler. If anyone doesn’t apply to the phrase “absolute power corrupts absolutely,” it is him. He truly wanted what was best for his people and even abolished slavery and serfdom.
5. Genghis Khan
genghis-khan-portrait

Genghis Khan was perhaps the most brutal leader the world has ever seen, but he was one of the most successful. He founded the Mongol Empire, one of the most powerful forces in the world at that time. Genghis Khan’s brilliant military strategies and tactics puts him on this list. He conquered most of the world during his prime and united many nomadic tribes in Asia.
4. Queen Elizabeth I
queen-elizabeth-i

Elizabeth I was the Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until the day she died. She has had many nicknames, the most famous of which being the Virgin Queen, because of the fact that she never depended on a King, but ruled quite well herself. Queen Elizabeth I set the model for a female ruler at that time and is probably one of the most successful female rulers in history. Before her reign, most females weren’t thought to be fit of such power and they were secondary to Kings or other male heirs. Elizabeth managed to prove that her gender could match and even do better than the rule of men.
3. Charlemagne
charlemagne_and_pope_adrian_i

Charlemagne was the King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He has had a long record of accomplishments that prove his worth to be on this list. He expanded and united the Frankish kingdoms into the single, powerful Frankish Empire. His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, the period in which art and other cultural artifacts revived and peaked through the Catholic Church.
2. Napoleon
napoleon

Napoleon I of France, later known as Emperor Napoleon, was a prominent military and political leader of France and he heavily influenced European politics in the early 19th century. He basically dominated continental Europe through superior military tactics and intelligence. He continued to prosper until the French invasion of Russia in 1812, and his success steadily declined. But his establishment of the Napoleon code laid the administrative and judicial foundations for much of Western Europe.
1. Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States and led the country through its greatest internal struggle, the Civil War. He successfully preserved the union; if not for Abraham Lincoln, the United States would probably be divided into two countries right now. He also signed the Emancipation Proclamation, abolishing slavery in America. Abraham Lincoln is widely considered one of the greatest US presidents, if not one of the greatest leaders in history.

Top 10 Persuasive TV Ads

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:36:00 +0530

Not long after the television was invented, commercials were invented; soon to be followed by their bigger brother, the infomercial. Since then, our favorite television shows have transformed into a morphine drip of short intervals of satisfaction, followed by a seemingly greater span of watching TV ads about 1952 die cast Chevy Pickups, and ultra absorbent maxi pads. Some are good, however, and some are funny; some even make you want to reach for your wallet. What follows, then, is my top ten list of persuasive TV ads. Some are commercials and some are Infomercials, but all are compelling in their own way…Enjoy!
10. Proactiv

Founded by two dermatologists, Proactiv began selling its products through the infomercial medium in 1994, and have since moved to mall kiosks and online websites.

Claiming up to 10 million customers, this acne treatment has exploded onto the skin care market with the help of a number of high profile spokespeople including, to name a few, Vanessa Williams, Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan and P. Diddy. Who knew P. Diddy had acne?

9. Nair

Nobody, male or female, likes to shave. Realizing this, Church & Dwight Co., Inc developed a depilatory cream capable of searing it off your body in only a few minutes. Be sure to only apply it to the areas listed as safe though, and don’t leave it on for too long or your skin will blister.

Still, the ads worked by rousing the interest of all those seeking a change from traditional hair removal methods, and propelled Nair into the top spot in the depilatory products market. In fact, having personally seen it work, I was surprised and simultaneously chagrined at both its effectiveness, and rotten cucumber smell, respectively. Surely, though, headway has since been made in this area.
8. George Foreman Grill

Also know as the George Foreman Lean, Mean, Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine, this grill has gained steadily in popularity since its introduction in 1994, with more than 80 million units sold to date. The renowned pugilist has said that revenues earned through his Grill have exceeded his career boxing earnings.

The TV commercials feature an aproned Big George that charms the viewer into buying his product; a product, I should say, that actually does what it claims to do.
7. Jack Lalanne’s Power Juicer

With no shortage of juicer television ads (Juiceman, Juice Master, etc), it’s a little tough to choose one; however, this is only a ten item list and I can’t just fill it with juicers. Credit has to be given to Jack, then, not just because of his lifetime commitment to health and fitness, but also due to the fact that, at 94, he looks better than a lot of 20 year-olds.

The infomercials featured Jack dressed in his trademarked blue astronaut pajamas, happily brewing up his thick swamp water-like concoctions while couch potatoes everywhere put down their sugar and sodium laden soft drinks, picked up their phones, and ordered a Power Juicer. As Jack would say: “That’s the power of the Juice!” No, that’s the power of persuasive ads.
6. Slendertone Systems Abs

Who doesn’t want a ripped six pack? It’s one of those rare badges of honor that tells the world: “Hey, I take care of myself.” For those of us not blessed with the genetics of a naturally cut physique, just throw on this belt for 40 minutes, 3 times a week and in no time you’ll look like an extra from the movie 300.

Products promising quick changes to one’s appearance are always operating from a position of strength because they play off people’s ingrained insecurities. Add to that the promise of convenience, ease of use, and minimum effort and you have yourself a winner.

This product does just that and does it well, as is evidenced by it’s tally of over 2.5 million units sold to date.
5. The Clapper

Time is money, and who likes wasting time turning on light switches? Enter the Clapper, which is specifically geared towards elderly or immobile consumers who would value the convenience of an automated unit capable of turning on appliances. The strength of The Clapper’s TV ad is its jingle, which once heard will follow you into the afterlife. While persuasive, it neglects to acknowledge the obvious downside of no longer being able to enjoy Wheel of Fortune without your lights turning rapidly on and off at every spin of the wheel.
4. The Gazelle

Let’s face it, it’s hard not to derive some guilty pleasure from watching the infomercials where the ball cap wearing, blonde pony tail sporting Tony Little approaches critical mass as he becomes less and less capable of controlling his enthusiasm. Filled with plenty of great moments – like when “America’s Personal Trainer” invariably decides to climb onto the Gazelle with a host, and stays on just long enough for the situation to become awkward – it’s hard not to succumb to his over-the-top yet endearing personality.
3. The ShamWow!

Now, I’m not one to get excited about absorbent towels, but after watching this commercial my outlook on household spills changed dramatically.

Filmed in the summer of 2007 for $20,000 and pitched by writer, director, and comedian Vince Offer – seemingly created by splicing the genes of a used car salesman and an auctioneer – he crams what could have been a half-hour infomercial into a two minute commercial that, when over, leaves the viewer out of breath. All I can say is “ShamWow!”
2. The Q-Ray

Many people grow up dreaming of magical rings and amulets that, if only possessed, would grant them special abilities. Most outgrow this childhood longing, but some don’t; some buy Q-Rays.

In upholding a 2006 U.S. District Court verdict, which forced QT Inc to pay out over 16 million U.S. to consumers for false advertising, U.S. Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook explained his decision as follows: “Defendants might as well have said: Beneficent creatures from the 17th dimension use this bracelet as a beacon to locate people who need pain relief, and whisk them off to their home world every night to provide help in ways unknown to our science.

The commercials are packed with the vague testimonials of wearers who ‘just feel better’, and the glib expositions of the bracelet’s abilities by so-called experts. Still, with sales reported during the aforementioned trial of $137,172,907 between 1996 and 2003, someone’s buying them. Therefore, given the fact that they are effectively a glorified metal bracelet with a price tag of U.S.$49-159 a pop, that makes for one hell of a persuasive television ad.
1. Bowflex

The bowflex body: sought by so many and yet – be it from lack of time, willpower, interest, or any other reason – achieved by so few. Fortunately for Bowflex, along with their revolutionary Power Rod (and most recently Spiral Flex) technology, they developed an advanced form of mind control, which they incorporate liberally into their TV ads.

These commercials vary in length and are filled with Adonis-like physiques, purported to be attainable with just 20 minutes a day, three times a week. While most people would recognize the ridiculousness of this marketing claim, there nonetheless lingers some seed of fascination with the product, long after the commercial has ended.

Having been brainwashed myself, I can’t guarantee that it wasn’t my own Bowflex that convinced me to enter it into this list, but given their widespread success in spite of a couple of sizeable recalls, I think they warrant the top spot. After all, who could forget the genetic oddity that was the 50 year old grandmother with a Bowflex body who learned to feel comfortable again in her bikini? Truly inspirational! Truly a persuasive ad!

Top 10 Crazy Royals

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:55:00 +0530

When someone is talked about as being crazy, they usually aren’t the ones calling the shots. However, there have been a few notable cases of these mad men or women, all of royal blood, ruling countries, much to the chagrin of their subjects or much to the delight of their parents who act as regents. Luckily it hasn’t happened all that recently – can you imagine the posh padding required to hold an insane royal? Only the finest 1,000 count Egyptian cotton for the cell walls and a straight jacket made of the best royal purple silk and tied with gold roping.

And hopefully these 10 wackos will stay in the recesses of history and not pop up again – you know the whole history repeating itself?
10. George III of the United Kingdom

King George III ruled Great Britain and Ireland for some 59 years of his life. While he was somewhat gifted in the military campaign aspect defeating France in extended engagements once during Napoleon’s reign and once during the Seven Year War, his biggest loss, besides his marbles, was that of the American Colonies. Born in 1738, he didn’t start losing his mental health until later in life, supposedly from arsenic poisoning. If someone was trying to kill him, they should have tried harder.

9. Peter III of Russia

Less well known than his wife who took his throne, Peter III was Emperor of Russia for about six months in the mid 1700s. But he held questionable, at least to the court nobles, allegiances while his wife Catherine II courted those same nobles and took his throne in a bloodless coup. It was said that he was insane but that he was also relieved to no longer have the throne – perhaps he really was crazy. Whether he was crazy can be disputed; however, along with a couple other people who could potentially question Catherine’s ascension to the throne, Peter was found a few months later mysteriously dead.
8. Princess Alexandra Amalie of Bavaria

This German daughter of King Ludwig I of Bavaria never married and was quite an accomplished literary figure in her homeland. While not clinically insane, she did display OCD tendencies and thought she swallowed a glass piano. It was probably the crinoline under the period dress of the mid 1800s that caused her hips to look big, not the piano.
7. Ludwig II of Bavaria

Insanity runs in the family, just ask Princess Alexandra’s nephew, Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria. While he was declared clinically insane by his cabinet members in 1886, it was doubted as to whether he was actually bonkers. He did have troubles with shyness, childish behavior and flights of fancy including building many castles such as Neuschwanstein Castle. And though his sanity was questioned, his common sense was definitely lacking when he decided it not best to flee when his cabinet members tried to depose him not once but twice.
6. Otto of Bavaria

Ludwig II’s brother, Otto, became King of Bavaria at the age of 38 after his older brother was deposed and died a day later. However, Otto was confined to Fürstenried Palace due to his actual mental illness; meanwhile a regent ruled in his stead. Supposedly the Wittelsbach family were all rather eccentric, some more so than others as in the case of Otto, Ludwig and Alexandra.
5. Juana of Castile

Joan the Mad was crazy about her husband, Phillipe the Handsome. She was known as being obsessed with her husband even after his death. Perhaps this was why she never actually ruled Castile – because she was crazy and a necrophiliac. While she was busy mourning her husband, continually caressing his rotting corpse, which she brought with her on a tour of Spain in the 1500s, her father and son wanted to rule for her. She was rendered essentially powerless and locked away for the rest of her life. Love will drive a person mad!
4. Charles VI of France

Known as Charles the Mad, many historians think King Charles VI of France suffered from schizophrenia. Shortly after an attempted murder of a friend in 1392, Charles took an army after the supposed perpetrator only to turn on his knights killing one and injuring others before being dragged off his horse and falling into a coma. Because he acted bonkers, he was later removed from power but not dethroned since he lived for some 30 years after his first fit of the crazies.
3. Carlos II of Spain

Inbreeding can only make genetic and mental defects stronger as in the case of Juana the Mad’s descendant King Carlos II of Spain. He was severely disfigured from birth with a huge elongated head, a misshapen body and a jaw that could not close so he could eat. Meanwhile, he was relegated to being an idiot from birth since he was hardly taught anything and only went from an infantile brain to idiocy in his older years. Carlos’ relatives all died leaving him the throne and an over-bearing mother to rule in his stead. However, he thought of himself as bewitched because of his suffering, while in today’s world most of what he suffered would have been recognized as being cause by inbreeding.
2. Afonso VI of Portugal

“The Glutton” took ill at the age of three and was left partially paralyzed on his left side as well as mentally unstable for the rest of his life. Afonso was delighted when he saw his older two siblings die as teenagers declaring “Hurray! Now I will be King of Portugal!” Unfortunately the future King was a little loose in the head loving savagery and loving food to the point of being called a glutton. In his final days like many of the other monarchs on this list, he was confined – it was said he wore a groove in the floor from pacing since he couldn’t do anything else.
1. Charles IX of France

Unlike Afonso, King Charles IX of France actually took out his savagery on others in his court, including once on his sisters as well as on other humans and animals. Due to a disfiguration, he was dubbed the Snotty King and was given to fits of rage and sadism though he was a Mama’s Boy. In 1561 at the age of 10, Charles took the throne after all the other eligible heirs died – through no fault of his. Like Carlos, it was his overbearing mother that ruled long after her regency ended when he came of age. Never cutting the strings might drive any man crazy!